E. A. Koetting - staticfly.net

CHAPTER ONE
THE BLACK MAGICIAN
Once the Temple has been set up, the Practitioner begins to take
Destiny by the tail. He opens his books and reads the Incantations. He
kneels in silence and feels the powers sweep into the room. He gives his
commands and sends them forth with the smoke of the candles as he
blows them out.
At this stage, the Magician knows that he must put into action
those things that he has learned. He sees dancing before him all of his
desires, and grabs at them one by one. He still has a sense of his
limitations, however. He feels that it is beyond him to summon to
visible appearance legions of demons to do his bidding. He knows that
he has power and that he can effect his environment; he just has no
concept of how much power is waiting to be unleashed.
The Practitioner takes baby-steps towards Adepthood, afraid that
if he leaps he may fall, or may even find that the seemingly delicate
walls of this Magickal world will shatter. He is actively, albeit unaware
to even himself, looking for the boundaries of this new world, treading
lightly, not able to comprehend that which is Limitless.
The moments that were spent as a Dabbler burning candles and
making wishes are revised; the flames that rise from the wicks now
embody the powers of Magick itself. The Practitioner's eyes are opened
to the fact that ritual is not the sum total of physical action coupled
with vague desire. He notices the energetic currents that move through
all things, and learns through his own metaphysical experimentations
the exact manner in which he can manipulate those currents to his
advantage.
The specific stage of the Practitioner is that in which the reality
of Sorcery is solidified in the Magician's mind and the application of its
mysteries becomes cemented in his being. It is in this stage that he
becomes an active participant in the Works of Darkness, rather than a
curious spectator.
It is also at the stage of the Practitioner that the fledgling Black
Magician will be driven to exorcise the demons of his previous faith
from him. The Dabbling years were never taken seriously enough to
warrant such a divorce from the former self, and the time spent as a
Neophyte in Black Magick were so filled with novelty of the knowledge
and experience of ritual and Magick that he could not stop and examine
the internal metamorphosis that has been taking place since he stepped
foot on the Left Hand Path. As his latent powers and awareness is
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